Exposed: The Problems with Relying on Excel for ERP Testing

Transcription

1 Exposed: The Problems with Relying on Excel for ERP Testing

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS: Why is using Excel not the way to go for ERP testing?...3 Why would a billion dollar company end up using Excel for ERP testing?... 5 A Closer Look at the Typical ERP Testing Process Bonus Chapter: Our company doesn t use Excel for application testing. Um. Yes we do, boss! // Page 2

3 CHAPTER 1: Why is using Excel not the way to go for ERP testing? Test managers are always looking for maximum flexibility for their reporting. And they are the ones carrying the burden of the testing process. Excel excels at reporting, but falls short when it comes to test execution. When you have to print out the skeleton of the tests which involves many departments and stakeholders in an organization, it is a complicated process. Each person has to type in what they just did, and then forward the Excel file to the next person. This is primitive. Companies that do this try to optimize it by storing the Excel spreadsheets on a shared drive (as opposed to printing it). You can just edit in on the shared drive and the next person a link. If the Excel spreadsheet gets lost, you need to start your testing from scratch. Companies that do this usually hire test coordinators to organize the testing process. This goes on at companies that make tens of billions of dollars a year. // Page 3

4 Exposed: The Problems with Relying on Excel for ERP Testing Some companies are even more creative to gain efficiencies: instead of sending out s, they have one folder for each team. Each time a team finished a test they drop the Excel file into their peers folder so the next team can access it via the shared drive, pick up all of the files and proceed to run their tests. It works, but it s a very primitive form of testing. A shared network drive is not meant to be used for ERP testing. // Page 4

5 CHAPTER 2: Why would a billion dollar company end up using Excel for ERP testing? When you look at software testing, there are excellent automation tools out there to choose from. If it works for a software company, why isn t it good for a multibillion dollar company?! There is one possible reason: In ERP, you usually don t have professional testers to test your software, but you do have end users who look for simplicity and productivity. They have their daily activities in logistics, finance, or procurement and therefore have little time to invest in testing even though it is perceived as an important part of their job. // Page 5

6 The Ultimate Oracle EBS Online Patching ebook Automation tools require them to do extra work to share knowledge with the test engineers and test management tools are very similar to XLS without helping where it really hurts: the documentation of test results and collaboration between users within a test. Therefore, all in all, without a good alternative to XLS, why change it? // Page 6

7 CHAPTER 3: A Closer Look at the Typical ERP Testing Process So we ve established that Excel isn t the right tool for application testing, although it is still the most commonly used! What these companies really need is a solution that is right in the middle, between Excel and heavy & onpremise test management tools with automation. ERP testers at most companies, small or large, are not professional testers testing is simply a small part of their daily activities. Because of a lack of an intermediate solution which would equip them efficiently, they often end up being overloaded with many administrative tasks related to testing. What we are trying to do at Panaya is to reduce this overload and let them focus on what they are really good at. // Page 7

8 The Ultimate Oracle EBS Online Patching ebook Let s look at what a functional user (IT or Business) typically needs to do while testing their part of a business process: Receive notification from another peer (predecessor in the testing cycle) Check their guidelines Understand what was tested by other users in the business process Execute the test Document the test results Find the next person Send to the next person This process is a small part of the testing relay race; it is multiplied by the number of persons involved in each business process to test. // Page 8

9 BONUS CHAPTER: Our company doesn t use Excel for application testing. Um. Yes we do, boss! We want to leave you with a colorful anecdote from a colleague of ours: I recently met with an executive from one of the world s largest System Integrators to discuss innovation and a roadmap for both of our companies. // Page 9

10 The Ultimate Oracle EBS Online Patching ebook While talking about our latest improvements, I told him that, like many others, people in his company are certainly still using Excel files for test execution. The executive replied, Come on we left the Stone Age years ago! Guess what his reaction was, when the 2 delivery managers (SAP & Oracle EBS) acknowledged that indeed that was the way they work. The saddest part is that we even have difficulties showing an accurate dashboard to C-levels during our test campaigns His jaw dropped. How come, even though you spend your days talking about innovative ideas like cloud infrastructures and optimization of data management, your own employees are still using basic testing tools? // Page 10

11 Thank You! Save 30% on your ERP testing time right now! Click here to receive a free demo! Panaya accelerates application change and testing in SAP, Oracle E-Business Suite, and Salesforce. Panaya applies big data analytics to predict what will break, how to fix it and what to test for every change made to these applications.